Digital TV team sets 3D standard
DVB-3DTV ready to go
The Digital Video Broadcasting Project, the organisation which oversees the DVB digital TV technology and its component standards, such as the DVB-T2 system Freeview HD uses, has added 3D to the specification.
DVB-3DTV, which will be formally published next month, defines how broadcasters should transmit 3D TV programming and how set-top box and telly makers should pick it up the signal, decode it and display it, irrespective of whether the screen uses active or passive 3D, Broadband TV News reports.
The standard is "frame compatible": the left- and right-eye images can be included within a conventional 2D HD frame to allow broadcasters to use existing kit. Metadata is included in the transmission to help the receiver identify that the broadcast is in 3D and to extract the two sets of images from the stream.
This makes it easier to upgrade existing hardware to 3D with a simple software update.
DVB-3DTV not only includes 720p and 1080i frame-compatible formats at both 50Hz and 70Hz, plus top-and-bottom and side-by-side 3D frame formats, but also 24Hz 1080p side-by-side frames.
The spec mandates the ability to extend DVD-3DTV in the future without breaking the existing version. Features being considered include the ability to use one of the two 3D images as a 2D image, allowing the one broadcast to feed both 3D and 2D TV sets.
The DVB is also pondering adding "depth map" data to broadcasts to allow the user to control the level of front-to-back separation between left- and right-eye images. ®
COMMENTS
Questiontime
Name one TV programme shown in the last seven days that would have been even ever so slightly better had it been viewed in 3D.
DVB-3D HDTV standard?
70hz was mistype, it is 60hz.
Why add a STANDARD if this is not a transmission layer?
This standard already exists: HDMI 1.4/1.4a and it is "frame compatible" with ALL the DTT standards (ISDB-T, ATSC, DVB-T and DTMB) using metadata, because in Brazil (ISDB-T) there is already one 3D channel (REDETV!) broadcasting since june 2010, and also as a south-american channel in a cableTV at Paris, France.
As phase 2, "ability to use one of the two 3D images as a 2D image", this is part of the h.264, called MVC (multiple Video Coding) transparent to old receivers with ALL the DDT standards also.
Primeval...
Mind you I still watch on a CRT so what do I know?
Re: Questiontime
Hmm. Some science programs would benefit a little with a 3-D effect (I saw the Hubble in 3-D movie a few months ago, it made very good use of it).
Just for giggles, the CSI visuals would be interesting to see in 3-D.
Other than that, yeah, nothing else comes to mind. Not really worth it, is it?
